1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot operation training system and, more specifically, to a robot operation training system without use of an actual robot.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the advance of technology with respect to industrial robots, the operation of such robots has become more and more complicated. Therefore, whenever a new robot is installed, it is necessary to train the operator as to how to manipulate the robot. In addition, recently, there have been remarkable technological innovations and therefore various kinds of novel robots various kinds have been put on the market. Thus the necessity and the frequency of training for robot operation has increased.
A prior art method of training robots is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 1-306187, for instance, in which certain instruction programs are used, instead of an instructor dispatched from a robot manufacturer. The training program displays the next operation to be performed on a display unit (e.g. cathode ray tube) in sequence in response to the operator's operation.
In this prior art training method, however, the training is performed with the use of an actual robot to be installed, which makes it difficult for the manufacturer and the user for the following reasons. At present, since the robot operation training is performed with the use of an actual robot, it is impossible to perform the robot training before the robot to be delivered has been completely manufactured. Alternately, it is necessary to prepare another robot for only the operation training that is the same as the robot to be installed. Therefore, whenever a robot is manufactured and sold, there exists an economical problem in that a high training cost, a large training space, and a long preparation time for the transportation, installation, adjustment, etc. are required further, there exists another problem in that since an actual robot is used for training, an expensive robot may be damaged due to an erroneous operation.